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As Christians, we’re called to love our neighbors—all our neighbors. But is that even possible? And can we truly love them well?

People often think of their neighbors as those already belonging to their “tribe” or community. It’s safe, it’s easy, and it doesn’t often cause conflict—politically or religiously. But in today’s world, everyone and everything is interconnected globally in an ever-changing cultural landscape, while religious strife runs rampant. Is it feasible for Christians to live their faith boldly and lovingly while entering into a true relationship with “neighbors” of other faiths, both locally and globally?

In Bold as Love, Pastor Bob Roberts shows you what it looks like to live out your faith daily in the global public square among people of other faiths—Jews, Muslims, atheists, Hindus, Buddhists. While he admits that it can be challenging to engage people of other faiths whose beliefs are as strong as yours, he demonstrates how to enter into this critical dialogue in a radical yet loving way. “We have to learn to speak with one conversation and give the same message everywhere to everyone,” he says. “We are commanded to love God and love others. And sometimes that requires risky boldness.”

Roberts invites you to respond to this call to live a life of fearless and loving engagement with the world. So take the risk! Your faith wasn’t made to live in isolation. It’s something you do face-to-face, heart-to-heart, hand-to-hand. Whether you are in a suburb of Houston or a village in India, put away the fear and suspicion and, instead, answer the call to radically love others the way God loves. And get ready to see your life and the lives of those you touch—your family, your community, even your enemies—transformed!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bob Roberts Jr. is the founding pastor of NorthWood Church in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and has been involved in the planting of a hundred congregations in the United States. Bob also works in Australia, Asia, Afghanistan, Mexico, and Nepal helping with church planting and development and global engagement. Bob is a graduate of Baylor University (BA), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Mdiv), and Fuller Seminary (D.Min.) with an emphasis in church planting. He and his wife have two children.

More About the Author

Bob Roberts Jr. is the founding pastor of NorthWood Church in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and has been involved in the planting of a hundred congregations in the United States. Bob also works in Australia, Asia, Afghanistan, Mexico, and Nepal helping with church planting and development and global engagement. Bob is a graduate of Baylor University (BA), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Mdiv), and Fuller Seminary (D.Min.) with an emphasis in church planting. He and his wife have two children.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

In his new book "Bold as Love; What Can Happen When We See People the Way God Does", Texas megachurch pastor Bob Roberts, Jr. writes about diversity of religions and the possibility of seeing our neighbors in the same light God does. For Christians, the word `diversity' has long been considered a four-letter word, a bit unnerving, and difficult to achieve at best. Roberts believes diversity it is possible for different religions to come together under the umbrella of God's bold love. The genesis for this book was a challenge by Roberts's friend, a Saudi prince and a Muslim to discuss the ways to bring about a greater understanding between Christians and Muslims. From there, Roberts organized an event at his church for the purpose of demonstrating God's love between Christian, Jewish, and Muslims communities. After some initial pushback, his congregation his vision and the event was a great success.

Roberts spends a great deal of time, in different places throughout the book, talking about the differences between "multifaith" and "interfaith". His goal in hosting these meetings is multifaith: people coming together who passionately believe in their own faith and want to know more about what their neighbors believe. Interfaith, he describes, is simply trying to melt all faiths into one. Roberts has found through these multifaith meetings, three questions are often asked. First, "Why do you believe in God?" Second, "Why do you believe in only one God?" Third, "Why are you a Christian?" He believes there must be solid answers from Christians to these questions if we are going to positively influence other religions. Roberts takes time to describe certain fears in the multifaith journey.Read more ›

Once upon a time, people chose religions much the same way they chose football teams: they rooted for the same team their neighbors did. But today's unprecedented mass migration has resulted in diverse, powerful world religions living next door to one another. Picking our faith passively, or throwing our hands in the air, is not an option. We must speak frankly, but lovingly, with all religions in today's compact world.

When Dallas megachurch pastor Bob Roberts, Jr., met a Saudi prince who asked him what he had done to promote dialog, he felt overwhelmed. Dallas is the capital of Jesusland! Yet when he got home, he noticed mosques, synagogues, temples, and more, right on his doorstep. The supposed Bible Belt has as much religious diversity as any American region. So he took the logical step, reaching out to imams and rabbis for his city's first multifaith sit-down.

This book combines anecdotes of Roberts' personal discoveries, lessons he learned about his own and others' beliefs, and suggestions to build similar experiences across America. Roberts' suggestions are both timely and relevant. The Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) share a call to love our neighbors, a call shared by most faiths and philosophies. But it's hard to love one another when we don't know one another.

Like me, Roberts distrusts the sort of "interfaith" meetings that enjoyed hip cachet in the 1990s. Too often, these descended into huggy, syncretic pablum in which nobody stood for anything. No wonder interfaith outreach dwindled after 9/11. Roberts prefers the term "multifaith," which reflects his real goal: people who passionately believe their own faith, and passionately want to know their neighbors as real people.Read more ›

Bob Roberts once again nails it with Bold As Love. As a visionary pastor who is making a difference locally and globally he takes us on a journey back to the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus... LOVE! With faith inspiring, gut wrenching, and utterly challenging stories, Roberts reminds readers what love looks like. Imagine a world where the love of Christ, through the lives of His people, was constantly on display. Roberts has seen glimpses of this for years...and believes there can and should be more. His call back to love isn't an easy one, but it is a call that, if taken to heart, will change the world. READ THIS BOOK...then DO this book!

What happens when a Southern Baptist Pastor takes the Great Commandments as seriously as he does the Great Commission? We don't have to guess. It is happening at Northwood Church in Dallas, Texas. Bob Roberts Jr. and his church are breaking out of the evangelical box and modeling "bold love."Bob's latest book, "Bold as Love" describes this pilgrimage into a life of radical, loving service in an interconnected world. Like his previous books, it is filled with examples of bridge-building love and faith-stretching stories - funny stories.

A local example: Bob meets a Pakistani Imam in Texas named Zia and decides to actually befriend him (and not just try to convert him). How do you make friends in Texas? You go hunting together. Here's Bob's invitation to the Imam: "Zia, I'm from East Texas; if you show up hunting in your Pakistani garb, and I give you a 12-gauge, and we go running through those woods yelling Allahu akbar, we're gonna die. I'll take you, but I want you in jeans, a T-shirt, and talking with a Texas accent" (p. 25).

A global example: Bob likes using hunting to build bridges. He describes one hunting expedition with Afghans like this: "I've run deer with dogs before on hunts. But I've got to tell you, it doesn't come close to comparing with camel chasing across the desert with a rocket launcher. That was one of the wildest things I've ever done my entire life. Yes, we really did it. No, I didn't get one but it was sure fun to shoot" (p. 79).Ok. Enough cool stories. How does this Southern Baptist pastor demonstrate bold love? Bob and his church do this through serving. One of their favorite sayings is: "Serve not to convert, but serve because you've been converted." Neighbor love is not just a nice idea, but a driving force for Northwood.Read more ›